During flight, a boundary layer of air builds up on the exposed surfaces of an aircraft. The boundary layer is a thin film of low velocity, low dynamic pressure air located near a solid boundary and resulting from the air being at rest along the solid boundary. The boundary layer which forms on surfaces located upstream of an aircraft engine can become ingested by the engine and decrease the recovery of total pressure and corresponding thrust performance. Further, the ingested boundary layer increases the flow distortion (a measurement of the quality or uniformity of flow characteristics) at the engine and thereby decreases the stability of engine operation. On the aircraft wing and/or other external surfaces of the aircraft, the boundary layer can increase skin friction and therefore drag. In some instances, the boundary layer can cause premature separation of the flow from the external surface, further increasing drag and/or reducing lift.
As a result of the foregoing drawbacks associated with boundary layers, many aircraft have employed some type of boundary layer removal, reduction, and/or control system to provide for stable engine operation and increased aerodynamic performance. Representative systems include boundary layer diverters, “bump” boundary layer deflectors, boundary layer bypass ducts, vortex generators, and porous surfaces or slots that either bleed boundary layer flow from the surface, or energize the flow by air injection. Unfortunately, these systems are often complex and can entail a substantial increase in aircraft weight and/or volume.
One recent technique for addressing boundary layer flow is to use a dielectric barrier discharge device to energize and/or redirect the boundary layer flow. These devices operate by ionizing air adjacent to the flow surface in such a way as to generate or direct flow adjacent to the surface. Accordingly, dielectric barrier discharge devices typically include a pair of electrodes separated by a dielectric material. The voltage applied to at least one of the electrodes is typically cycled in a sinusoidal fashion to ionize the adjacent air. While the foregoing approach has been shown to create the desired effect on the boundary layer at relatively low speeds for realistic air vehicle applications, there remains a need for devices that better control boundary layer flow and do so in a manner that is more efficient and effective than techniques associated with existing devices, and that can operate at higher flow speeds associated with realistic aircraft operations.